after march april before may
sunshine
then some rain is forecast
then some sunshine
and so it goes
april you are such an old fool
do you think we do not know you
after all these years
summer comes for you
sooner than you would have us think
and yes the month of may maybe
or maybe not but
at least march had a twinkle in her eye
a race of lamb’s wool clouds
across a wide blue sky
now april you have had your say
make way make way
there’s a good cat
that’s my chair
newts and sticklebacks
ahh
the three-spined stickleback
in the jam jar of my childhood
the newts under the muddied stones
in memory’s quarry
we walked and talked didn’t we
we collected spotted memories
it was great fun
i recall it all
like the soil
under the fingernails
of this poem
written just in time
the sky is as blue as the gorse is yellow
the yellowest yellowest blue
the bluest bluest yellow
and the butter of the sun paths
to the sea to the sea
kimberley wrote a line
first it settled here
then it settled there
her butterfly words
touched all the flowers
in the gardens of my mind
